May 2014 Favorites

Time for some favorites for the past month!  Let's get to it.

Clarins Liquid Bronze Self Tanning (review) -- I've been using this every other night to give me some color on my face and décolleté.  It's light and milky, and feels kind of refreshing.  A great, gradual self tanner.

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation -- True story: I needed a new foundation to match my newly self-tanned face, and I didn't want to spend too much money on one because I wasn't sure how often I was going to self-tan, or even if I was going to like doing it.  So, I went to CVS and looked for the cheapest (or close to it) foundation and discovered this one for $6, plus I had some Extra Bucks, so it cost me $2.  I hadn't done any "homework" on it, so I was buying it with only having read the ingredients on the back (I liked the fact it has titanium dioxide for sunscreen).  I took it home and immediately slapped it on my face, and discovered it was a light, liquidy, comfortable foundation with light to medium coverage.  It was a win!  I've been wearing it almost everyday, and think it is rather great.  The packaging, however, leaves something to be desired.  It is a glass bottle with no pump that is narrower at the bottom than the top, so it is quite tippy.  Chance of me spilling it: near 100%.

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder -- I have already repurchased this powder.  It gives a nice finish to the skin, doesn't look powdery, and it isn't drying.  Inelegant packaging, but whatever.  It works.

Too Faced à la mode Eyes -- This palette has nothing but shimmery shadows, so I have to supplement it with matte shadow from somewhere else, but I don't mind.  The colors are so springy/summery and just feel right for this time of year.  My favorite colors: Jardin (shimmery peach), Cannes (shimmery and sparkly copper), and Soleil (shimmery plummy brown).  De La Mer (shimmery navy blue) makes a great liner color.

MAC Lipglass in Water Deities from the Alluring Aquatics Collection -- This is a very shimmery "light bronzy pink" (according to MAC). It has the signature Lipglass vanilla scent and tacky texture that makes it long-wearing.  Gorgeous color.  Pretty packaging doesn't hurt either.

This is only a small part of the garden!

My Garden! -- The garden is looking lush and full now that all the plants are up.  Plenty of spring flowers have been blooming over the past month, and it's really fun to see what blooms when, what starts growing when, and where I need to add more plants!

I'd love to hear about some of your recent favorites!

Clarins Liquid Bronze Self Tanning Quick Review

I can't tell you why this isn't called Self Tanner instead of Self Tanning.  Maybe it's the translation from French.  In any case, I love this stuff.

I've never been one to self-tan my face because I've always been concerned that it would be all blotchy and weird because I use a BHA (salicylic acid) or AHA (glycolic acid) or a retinoid on my face almost every night.  I figured if it didn't work for my face I could always use it on my body somewhere.  My legs usually need a little help in the color department after a long winter.  But, I love it on my face, neck, and chest!

I've found that this self tanner is gradual and subtle enough that I can switch it with my regular skincare every other night and it gives me a nice glow and color.  It also claims to soften the skin, and I feel like maybe it does, so it kind of works as skincare, too.

It is a milky liquid that feels wonderfully light and dries quickly.  It has a herbal-y plant-y scent on application that at first I wasn't too fond of, but have grown to really like.  It doesn't have the signature self tan gross smell (I can't smell it at all!), and it is buildable, so for more color, I just apply it every day instead of every other day.  It also seems light enough in texture that it could be worn during the day. I just choose to use it at night.

As with any self tanner, be sure to wash your hands after application.  Even though this is a gradual tanner, it will stain the palms (I learned this after waking up with a tan palm one morning).  You can apply this with a cotton pad because it is liquid-y enough, but I don't bother with one, and I just use my hands.

I love the color this gives me, and the light, refreshing feeling of it on the skin.  Plus, no self tan smell?  Big thumbs up from me!

Clarins Liquid Bronze Self Tanning is $36 USD for 4.2 oz.

P.S.  Is it self tanner or self-tanner?  To hyphenate or not to hyphenate...

St. Tropez Self Tanning Mousse Review (and comparison to the St. Tropez Dark Self Tanning Mousse)

St. Tropez is my favorite brand of self tanners.  My biggest gripe about self tanners is the odor they create when the color develops, but the St. Tropez mousses with their "Aromaguard" technology (whatever that means) seem to not smell on me.  I reviewed the dark self tanning mousse here, and thought I would review the regular to compare the two.

St. Tropez says:
What is it? 
This super-lightweight, easy-to-apply, velvety mousse delivers that ultra-even all-over tan you’ve always wanted. Simply sweep on with an Applicator Mitt for a beautiful even tan. 

Who is it for? 
Our best-selling product is perfect for anyone looking to get a natural-looking, streak-free golden tan that dries in an instant. Whether you’re a first-time tanner or a total pro, our tinted formula will ensure you know where to apply your tan for a perfect application, everytime. 

Why is it different? 
Infused with conditioning aloe vera and long-lasting color, our innovative Aromaguard™ fragrance technology eliminates the tell-tale self tan aroma by a minimum of 70% and instead gives a beautiful subtle, yet refreshing fragrance. Never orange, St Tropez Tan always gives a beautiful, golden color.

You want to shake the bottle well to mix the guide color in with the self tanner, put some on your hand or the mitt (which I highly recommend), and then apply it in small circular motions being sure to blend it in well.  The guide color for this self tanner is a nice, light brown (very different than the green color of the dark mousse).  It gives a natural looking color, even before the color develops.  Again, this leaves me sticky for about 30 minutes.  The (fairly strong) sort of tropical scent is has during application is not as strong as the dark mousse.

(this is how the mitt looks after use and washing)

This formula doesn't claim to have the same formulation that "contains innovative melanin technology that ensures your tan is tailored to your individual skin tone" that the darker formulation has.  

The color this develops to is a lovely light tan on me after one application.  The dark formula does give me more color, but not by much.

left: St. Tropez Dark Self Tanning Mousse
right: St. Tropez Self Tanning Mousse
(after one application of each)

This gives me a beautiful, natural color and doesn't create that self tanner odor either.  Layering this for a darker color is very easy, and the color never turns orange.  You can layer this after the first "coat" has finished drying, or wait until the next day.

This is great for a very believable, not at all orange tan.

This is their best-selling self tanner and is $42 for 8 oz.

St. Tropez Self Tan Dark Bronzing Mousse Review

I am quite fair and like to self-tan my legs in the summer.  I just feel like they need some color so they don't blind everyone when I wear shorts.  I've been looking for a self tanner that I can use once a week that is long-lasting and doesn't smell too bad.

I've been trying out the St. Tropez dark bronzing mousse and spray, and I thought I would give you make thoughts on the mousse.

St. Tropez says:
What is it? 
This dark formula, inspired by our best-selling mousse, is an easy-to-apply advanced formulation that contains innovative melanin technology that ensures your tan is tailored to your individual skin tone.  Simply sweep on with an Applicator Mitt for a beautiful even tan. 

Who is it for? 
Anyone looking to get an intense, streak-free tan that dries in an instant. Whether you have pale or dark skin, our Dark Bronzing Mousse will tailor itself to your skin tone to give you a gorgeous natural-looking self tan.  Whether you’re a first-time tanner or a total pro, our dark-tinted formula will ensure you know where to apply your tan for a perfect application, everytime.

Why is it different?
St Tropez Dark Self Tan range is designed to provide our darkest, most intense colour yet. Extra skin conditioners and protective ingredients provide an even, streak-free colour that evens out your skin tone and lasts for longer without patchiness. This mousse contains our Aromaguard TM fragrance technology that helps to virtually eliminate the tell tale self tan aroma by up to 70%. 

The promise of longer-lasting color is what drew me to this one over the regular (any self tanner is going to make me quite tan relative to my normal, pale skin color).

First off, this goes on GREEN.  Like acid lime green.  I'm not sure why they made the indicator color so green, but because of this, the only time that makes sense to use this is right before bed, so long as you have sheets that you don't mind getting green.  Also, St. Tropez recommends not getting wet or exercising for 4 hours after application, and leaving it on for 8 hours for the best results.

This also has a strong fragrance when applied.  I'm terrible at describing scents, so I'm just going to say it smells kind of tropical or something.  It is quite distinctive, and I'm guessing it is part of the "Aromaguard" technology.

It claims to dry instantly, but I feel like I stay sticky for about 30 minutes.

I can't really say how long it takes for the color to develop because I always leave it on for 8 hours before washing off the guide color, and the guide color masks the color of the tan.

You can see the color isn't too dark on me (after one application).  I guess I would call it a medium tan.  The mousse claims to have "innovative melanin technology that ensures your tan is tailored to your individual skin tone" so that might be why.  It does give me a beautiful, natural, not at all orange color.  Unfortunately, while I do love the natural look and color, because it isn't very dark, it is pretty much either faded or gone by day 4 or so, and I was hoping for a longer-lasting color (like a full week).  I think it is hard to create a long-lasting self tanner because every day your top skin cells (the ones that are affected by the tanner) are sloughing off, so just about every self tanner is going to be very faded by day 3 or 4.

This leaves no funky self tan smell on me, even when I smush my nose up against the skin.

I think this is quite a good self tanner because of the beautiful natural tan (not orange) color it gives and the complete lack of self tan smell (although it really depends on personal chemistry, so it might have a noticeable smell for others).

I do recommend using the applicator mitt that they sell (or another mitt) since it makes application much easier blending-wise.  I wear a mitt on each hand, and it prevents me from getting any self tanner on the palms of my hands.

I have also been trying the dark St. Tropez spray and hope to have a review of that soon.

This costs $44 for 6.7 oz.

Do you have a favorite self tanner?